Issue 3 - Riverfield Country Day School

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Where Star Wars went wrong! By Addison Standley 8TH GRADE S tar Wars is one of the most famous sci-fi franchises of all time. It has captured the hearts and imaginations of many people, including myself. But George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, has taken a lot of stumbling steps backward for the franchise, and here’s why. The first three movies -- A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi -- are considered the best of the Star Wars films. They are considered by many to be perfect in every way. However, the prequel trilogy, consisting of The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith, has gotten a notably negative reception from diehard fans of the series, mainly because of the cast members’ horrible acting, the inclusion of Jar Jar C hristmas is a time for family, friends, and watching the traditional holiday specials we have watched on TV year after year. We all have our favorite Christmas specials we like to watch, so I asked a couple of people what their favorites are. Tyler Violett’s favorite is the animated “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” Zeke Clark’s favorite thing to watch at Christmas is “Home Alone.” Garrett Wheeler’s favorite Christmas movie is “Elf” with Will Farrell. (I happen 2 Binks, and the ludicrous and poorly executed stories. My personal favorite is Attack of the Clones, but it does get really cheesy at times. The main reason The Phantom Menace got so much negative criticism was because of the inclusion of the character of Jar Jar Binks. George Lucas added him to replace R2- D2 and C3P0 for comic relief during the first half of the film, but he spends to like this one a lot as well.) Stephen Holland’s favorite is the live action version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” with Jim Carrey. Nicholas Hartman’s favorite Christmas special is “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” What is your favorite? We all have our favorite things to watch at Christmas, and the things we watch are usually a family tradition. Hopefully we’ll be watching our favorite specials on TV for years to come. the rest of the film following the other characters around and not doing anything. Attack of the Clones got a lot of negative criticism due to its poorly executed plot. The characters also spend a lot of time talking ARTWORK: DAN-DARE.ORG about galactic politics, which bored many fans. To make matters worse, the film introduced Hayden Christensen’s horrible acting skills, which added to the criticism. He portrays the main character of Anakin Skywalker as an emotionless, awkward, and uninteresting young man. Revenge of the Sith fared much better critically than its predecessors. There isn’t a lot wrong with this film besides the flat romantic scenes between Anakin and Padme’ Amidala and their badly written dialogue. The Star Wars: The Clone Wars series is also considered a huge step backward for the franchise. In my opinion, it is one of the most poorly written, badly voiceacted shows ever made, and it does little to reinforce the timetable between episodes two and three. All in all, while Star Wars is a great sci-fi series and a beloved part of many people’s childhoods, not all of the films are perfect. If you like the prequels more the main trilogy, perhaps you should reexamine these films for yourself. Favorite Christmas TV specials ARTWORK: AOLTV.COM RAVIN’ TIMES December 2011
The history of curling By Zeke Clark 8TH GRADE C urling is a sport in which players slide heavy, polished granite stones (also called “rocks”) across a sheet of ice toward a target area. The sport is related to shuffleboard. Two teams consisting of four players take turns sliding the stones towards the targeted area (the“house”). Each team has eight stones, and the purpose is to accumulate the highest score in a game. The closer the stone is to the center of the “house,” the more points each team receives. Two players accompany the stone as it slides down the ice, using brooms to alter the state of the ice in front of the stone, influencing the distance and direction the stone travels. Curling is thought to have been invented in medieval Scotland. Evidence that curling existed in Scotland in the early 16th cen- tury includes a curling stone inscribed with the date 1511 that was found when an old pond was drained in Dunblane, Scotland. The first written proof of the game being played was in February 1541. In the early history of curling, the playing stones were flat-bottomed river rocks. Unlike today, the players had little or no control over the stone, and the players relied more on luck than skill. Today the game is one of those played in the Winter Olympics, and has been since 1998. The current powerhouse teams in curling are Canada, Sweden, and the U.S. Curling is a sport that probably doesn’t come to mind when most people who live here in Oklahoma think of sports. But in fact, it is one of those small sports that is constantly growing. Today, it has more than 1 million registered players worldwide. Players on Canada’s powerhouse team compete in a curling match. PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA.ORG December 2011 RAVIN’ TIMES LOVE VALLEY (part 2) By Heather Ruskoski and Olivia Edwardes 8TH GRADE Synopsis: Blaze, the stallion, and Misty, his beloved mare, are captured in pens on opposite sides of the river … G rass brushed the tips of Misty’s nose as she tried to ignore the fierce kicks of her unborn foal. Somehow, she knew it was almost time for her baby to be born. She waddled around the fence of the pen in which she had been imprisoned for all these months, searching for a soft place where she hadn’t eaten all the grass. Finally finding a nice spot to lay down, she let her legs collapse under the weight of her swollen belly. Misty had become weaker in the last few days, and she knew that soon she would not be able to get up for food or water. She felt so weak that she wondered if she would be able to survive the birth of her child. One cloudy, humid day her pain was so intense that she knew it was finally ILLUSTRATION: CARE2.COM CREATIVE FICTION time. She rolled over on her side and tried to control her gasps for breath. The foal kept her from calling out for help, for every time she tried to neigh, a wave of nausea washed over her like an ocean of sickening darkness. Her vision blurred, and she was afraid her life might soon be over. Desperately, she began thinking of her child’s future. Suddenly she saw a familiar face. Could it be her beloved, Blaze? Her heart soared and the pain was forgotten for a moment, but it was not Blaze. It was her loyal friend, Maria, whom she had not seen for months. Maria stood on the outside of the fence and softly whinnied to her. The sound of Maria’s voice calmed Misty, who felt a sense of relief now, knowing that her baby would be taken care of. Misty let the blackness close over her like a heavy blanket. Before she was totally consumed by the darkness, she whispered to Maria, “He is everything to me … take care of him.” (To be continued …) 3
Page 1: Inside this issue... Oh no, not Jar
Page 5 and 6: December 2011 RAVIN’ TIMES rTunes
Page 7 and 8: MYSTERY PERSON By Stephen Holland 8
Page 9 and 10: The history of the McLaren F1 LM By

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